You Should Have Left

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This movie is a whole lot of "what the fuck-ery." It centers on a man played by Kevin Bacon, his much younger wife played by Amanda Seyfried, and their daughter. The three of them move into a house together, and weird things start happening. I really don't know what to make of this movie. The scares feel very hit and miss. Sometimes, you get a lame fake-out jump scare. Sometimes you get something that's built on atmosphere. The three main actors actually work well in their respective roles, especially Kevin Bacon. The movie has a plot twist that simultaneously feels like it's unpredictable and obvious at the same time. It's a situation where I knew there was going to be a twist, and I had two guesses as to what it would be, if that makes sense. I think the first two thirds could have been handled quite a bit better. It feels like the filmmakers wanted the movie to have a sort of slow burn effect. Instead, a lot of it feels like it just kind of meanders and then the really crazy shit happens. This is the most effective part of the movie. That third act is where a lot of the "what the fuck-ery" I mentioned really comes into play. The first two thirds kind of offer glimpses into it. While I did enjoy that last half hour, it's not amazing. It doesn't really make up for the first two thirds of the movie. The first two thirds also don't quite feel like they mesh with that last half hour. While I didn't really hate the movie, I don't know that I particularly liked it either. This is a movie with good enough parts that doesn't quite measure up to a very effective whole.

5 / 10 

Scoob!

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Scoob! is an animated reboot of the theatrical Scooby-Doo franchise. Scooby and Shaggy must team up with the Blue Falcon and Dyno-Mutt when Scooby finds himself in the crosshairs of the villainous Dick Dastardly. Let's start with the negatives. First, the mystery aspect of the movie is inconsequential. It isn't the main focus of the movie, which is a bit odd because this is a Scooby-Doo movie. Second, I didn't love Will Forte as Shaggy. He's not bad. It just feels odd to me when Matthew Lillard has been the official of the character since 2009. Third, I don't necessarily think the movie always knew what to do with Fred, Daphne, and Velma beyond having them in the movie. I wanted to get those out of the way because I legitimately really liked this movie. Now that I've seen it a couple of times, there are things I didn't notice on my first viewing. For the most part, I really loved the voice cast. My personal favorites were Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly and Mark Wahlberg as the Blue Falcon. I genuinely loved a lot of the film's writing as well. There are some great jokes that poke fun at the Scooby-Doo lore. The movie does serve as something of a set up for a larger Hanna-Barbera universe. This is something that isn't going to work for everybody. Personally, I kind of like the idea, and I have seen attempts at doing this that are much worse by comparison. So, yeah. I really did enjoy this movie quite a bit. It's not going to go down as one of my favorites of the year. But, I don't think it needs to. The movie does its job. That's about all I can say on the matter.

7 / 10 

Apt Pupil

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Todd Bowden (played by Brad Renfro) discovers that his neighbor, Arthur Denker (played by Ian McKellen) is a Nazi war criminal. Todd has an obsession with the awful things the Nazis did during World War II. Todd blackmails Denker into telling him all of these horrible stories. So, Apt Pupil is a movie I had been interested in for a while. Now that I have finally seen it, I will say this. I absolutely loved this movie. It's based off a story by Stephen King, and I suppose I should start there. I have not read the story this movie is based off of. That said, this is a type of horror that I don't really see Stephen King explore all that often, meaning real world horror. The acting is excellent all-around, especially from the film's two leads. A lot of the tension comes from the cat and mouse game between these two. It also helps that you're never fully sure who is who in this scenario. Yes, Denker is a former Nazi war criminal who had been suppressing a lot of his more sadistic urges. However, Todd shows a lot of his own sadistic tendencies throughout the movie, and you feel each of them trying to attain a sense of control. In my opinion, this was a great little movie, even if critics and audiences didn't really respond to it.

9 / 10 

Happy Birthday to Me

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Well, yesterday was my birthday. So, let's talk about an 80s slasher movie with a birthday theme. You probably already know that I am a sucker for slasher movies. One I personally enjoy is Happy Birthday to Me. My favorite aspects of this movie are the kills. They are fun and gruesome. The acting actually isn't half bad in my opinion either. It isn't necessarily amazing. However, I have seen much worse in terms of slasher movies. I also genuinely love the twist involving the killer and the final girl. Both of these archetypes are played with in a really solid way, and I have to appreciate that. I won't give the twist away in this review, but know this is something I loved about this movie. The characters aren't particularly deep, but that's something you kind of just come to expect out of a lot of slasher movies. Plot wise, the movie actually is mostly simple. The final plot reveal is really the only complicated piece to the plot. This is a movie I enjoy as a horror fan and as a slasher fan. If you aren't a fan of slashers, this won't be the movie that sways you. If you are a fan slashers, even if you're only a casual fan, then I would recommend giving this movie a look.

8 / 10 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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It amazes me to watch this movie nearly 20 years later, and see just how well it holds up. I should start with my negatives with the movie because they are really just minor nitpicks. Some of the action felt a little bit choppy to me, and wasn't always the easiest for me to make out. Some of the choppy slow motion was also a little bit odd to me. Yep, that's about it for negatives for me. Everything just worked for me. The actors all felt perfectly suited to their respective roles. After nearly 20 years, the visuals are still incredible. In fact, I think a lot of the special effects look better than some movies that have only come out in the past couple of years. For the most part, I do think this movie stands on its own, which is not always the case. This movie does a great job building the world its characters inhabit. I also love the little teases to the greater lore of Middle-Earth that I really understand better as I have grown older. The characters feel so rich, even some of the smaller characters where I may not know a lot about them, but would love to know and learn more. Overall, there were a couple of editing and filmmaking choices that did feel a touch dated to me. However, everything else about the film still holds up from the perspective of 2020. I have always been a fan of these movies, and have never really gotten much of a chance to talk about them. 

9 / 10 

The Hunt

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The Hunt is sort of a modern retelling of The Most Dangerous Game. This movie was originally meant to come out last year, but was pushed back because of the perceived political bent. Yes, some of that is there. It didn't really bother me because I feel that this movie was genuinely critical of both sides. This movie is actually kind of hard for me talk about. Some of the best parts of this movie came because they were surprises. It wouldn't feel right for me to give them away in a review. The one real flaw I have with this movie is the fact that the characters aren't very deep. The cast all works pretty well for the roles they have. Plot-wise, this movie is pretty simple. It's people hunting other people. I should say that the villains' motivation is pettiness, and I kind of love that.  As for the exact reason why the villains are being so petty, I don't want to give that away. Overall, The Hunt isn't particularly deep or complex. However, it is fun enough for a one-time watch. I wish I had more to say about this movie, but the movie's simple. Therefore, my review is simple.

6 / 10 

Christmas Break-In

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Yes. I know. I chose to watch and review a Christmas movie in the middle of May. Let's just say that this movie is...Something. It's about a young girl named Izzy. Her parents forget her at school the day Christmas break starts. They freak out in a performance that feels like a bad community theater performance of the freak the parents have near the beginning of Home Alone, and get into their own set of shenanigans while they are trying to get to the school. So, while Izzy's pretty much stuck at school. The only remaining adult kind of just takes her at her word when she lies to him and tells him her parents will be there soon. Meanwhile a trio of bandits break into the school in the middle of a snow storm in order to hide out. So, yeah. This movie is basically just the diet Coke version of Home Alone. Similar flavor to the original, but doesn't taste nearly as good. The main actress who plays Izzy actually isn't half bad. It also helps that Izzy's really the most intelligent, likable character in the movie. You know, she says that her parents forget her at school all the time. Why? Because they're working. All they needed to do write something into the script so the school had latchkey system. There. How hard was that? I'll give some credit to Danny Glover too. He honestly comes off as though he's just a nice old man. There were elements to his character that probably would have been paid off if this movie was better written. Then again, I don't really think Christmas Break-In would have been nearly as good if it were, you know, good. Alright, let's talk about the villains' plan. They robbed Salvation Army. Their haul from the robbery was a couple Santa bags filled with coins. What kind of coins? I'm not entirely sure. And I don't think the movie's entirely sure either. Okay, the last element of this movie I want to mention is the movie's weird non-twist. There's a character the parents meet during their shenanigans. He's a delivery man the movie kind of says is Santa Claus, but never actually says he is. I was waiting for the movie to give that stupid twist, and it never came. At the end, I don't really think he served any purpose to the movie at all. I kind of have to recommend this because it is insane.